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Book Club "The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating"

Book Selection: The Sound of a Wild Snail Eatingby Elisabeth Tova Bailey

Synopsis:

Elisabeth Tova Bailey tells the inspiring and intimate story of her year-long encounter with a Neohelix albolabris—a common forest snail. While an illness keeps her bedridden, Bailey watches as the snail takes up residence on her nightstand. Intrigued by its molluscan anatomy, cryptic defenses, clear decision making ability, hydraulic locomotion, and mysterious courtship activities, Bailey becomes an astute and amused observer. The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating is a remarkable journey of survival and resilience, showing us how a small part of the natural world illuminates our own human existence.

• John Burroughs Medal Award• William Saroyan International Prize for Nonfiction• National Outdoor Book Award

Elisabeth Tova Bailey’s essays and short stories have been published in The Yale Journal for Humanities in Medicine, The Missouri Review, Northwest Review, and the Sycamore Review. She has received the William Saroyan International Prize for Nonfiction, the John Burroughs Medal Award for Distinguished Natural History, a National Outdoor Book Award in Natural History Literature, several Pushcart Prize nominations, and a Notable Essay Listing in Best American Essays. Bailey is on the Writers Council for the National Writing Project. She lives in Maine.

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The book club meets at 9 am and 6 pm (you choose which time to attend). New copies of book club selections are 10% off. You do not need to attend all book club meetings to participate.